Friday, March 08, 2013

snow march

you have to understand, this much snow is a BIG deal around here. the trees crumble under its weight. the roads become impassible. and then thousands of people lose power.

our power went out sometime in the wee hours of wednesday morning, and has remained thus. we are on day three of camping around the woodstove and cooking on the front porch (i am currently spending some time in town to enjoy the luxuries of internet and espresso).

in the era of wild storms and extended power outages, i am so grateful for woodstove, axe & saw, campstove, cooler, shortwave radio, some candles, and a bathtub full of water. oh and woolens!

the first day was all fun. . .

when the milk was still good, so was the hot chocolate

but now that we are day three of no power, it's getting irksome. we are all grumpy. it's weird to be so close to powered up homes and businesses, yet feel so isolated. life goes on as usual, yet nothing is normal. tristan has been waking up extra early, immediately excited about feeding the woodstove and seeing the snow. we're tired. yet i am acutely aware that this is nothing compared to the suffering that goes on across the planet due to earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, war, and famine. we are extremely fortunate and have lots of canned food.

above, just one of many similar scenes on the roads in our area. notice the downed line on the right.

and in the photo below, notice the tree leaning on the power line to the left. there is a whole row of trees resting on the power line just a few yards beyond.

it was (is) indeed incredibly heavy snow. i walked around our house shaking it off the bent camellia trees and watched them rise up gracefully from the ground. but the trees in the woods were falling apart before our eyes. it was amazing. i don't remember this much destruction with the snowstorms of 2009/2010 and that was double the snow! but our power was out just as long with those storms! thanks for commenting!

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About Me

i live at the foot of the beautiful blue ridge mountains with my husband, teenage daughter, five year old son, and two cats. i am a doula and have studied massage and herbalism. my creative passions include writing poetry, collaging, cooking, sewing, and photography. i also love to travel. i was born in cyprus and grew up with a single mother who took to me to far away lands. the blog "vale of evening fog" has been a great way to maintain a writing habit and capture the magic of daily life. "windhallow" is an ongoing poetry manuscript i have been writing since 2001. thanks for peeking into my realm!